Skin
by Merebeth
Summary: Vickers and Shaw go in search of a water source on the desolate moon LV-223. Set after the events of Prometheus if Meredith had joined David and Shaw. Hints towards Shaw/Vickers.


**Skin**

Two very exhausting days had passed since the Engineer ship had crashed back down onto the moon's surface. In order to stop the ship reaching its destination, Janek had piloted the Prometheus on a collision course, taking out the enemy ship but in the process causing their own vessel to explode on impact. Meredith had made the decision to abandon ship and in doing so had inevitably saved Shaw's life as well. Without her life boat being ejected, the young Doctor would have lost all remaining oxygen within her suit. Being stranded on the moon with the cold-hearted blonde was not Shaw's ideal scenario, but what other choice did she have?

The engineer had been killed on impact of the crash, according to David. Inside the life boat, the disturbing alien creature she had removed from her womb was no longer there, the previously sealed doors having been pried open - a task that would have taken monumental if not impossible strength. The young Doctor chose not to think about where it may have gone, just finding relief that she was rid of it.

The two women had made a safe haven within the life boat where they kept oxygen supplies, nutritional supplies, medical supplies and anything else they needed to survive on the moon. After a very long, heated argument, Vickers had finally agreed to bring David and his body back to the life boat so that he could keep watch there whenever the two women had to leave. Neither of them knew how to re-attach his head and lacked the equipment to perform such a procedure, so for the time being David remained disconnected from his body, communicating with Vickers and Shaw through the systems within their helmets.

On this particular day, Vickers and Shaw had ventured out onto the moon's terrain to see if they could locate a water source. Since most of the advanced technology had been destroyed with the Prometheus, they were searching the old fashioned way…on foot. At first things were going smoothly, the two walked side by side in silence after Vickers turned off David's comm signal, claiming his constant comments were driving her crazy. Shaw hadn't bothered to argue since she had also started to grow weary of the android's talking. Hours had passed and since both of them were too stubborn to admit that the chances of finding any sources of water were slim, they soldiered on, growing more agitated by the minute.

"If you'd just stop for one minute I can try to open up the communication with David, he might be able to point us in the right direction-" Shaw began, but was interrupted once more by a very venomous response.

"I am not listening to that android droning in my ear for who knows how long while we try and find some water on this god damn rock. The ship might be gone, but I am still in charge here, are we clear on that Miss. Shaw?" Vickers' sharp tone caused Elizabeth to let out a laugh of disbelief, stopping in her tracks.

"I don't believe it. You're still pulling rank after everything that's happened?" Meredith chose to ignore the other woman, still walking without her, the gap between the two increasing rapidly. "If we're going to have any chance of surviving we need to work together! It doesn't matter if you're the CEO of Weyland or the bloody cleaner, look ___around_ Meredith. Authority means nothing here anymore._"_

Shaw had obviously hit a nerve with her outburst as she called out to Vickers, since the tall blonde had stopped dead, turning to glare at the young scientist, still walking slowly backwards as she spoke. Before the blonde could cast an angry retort however, she lost her footing and slipped, her focus had been on Shaw and not the small crater she'd been walking towards. It was almost impossible to see even when paying full attention. As she slipped down into the crater, she lost all footing, hitting the side of her hip against one of the sharp rocks on the way down.

Shaw saw her slip then disappear, gasping in surprise and breaking into a run.  
"Vickers?" She called in a panic as she got closer, looking down into the crater. It was luckily not as huge as most were, climbing out of it would be incredibly difficult, but not impossible. "Are you alright?! Can you move?" She shouted down to her watching as the blonde grimaced and held onto her hip tightly.

"Shit." The blonde whispered under her breath, the sting from the cut causing a groan of pain to slip free. She was lucky her helmet hadn't been pierced, her oxygen would have depleted at a very rapid pace if she had. "I…I caught myself on the way down. Don't come down here Shaw, stay there. Shaw-"

Ignoring the blonde, Shaw carefully began to clamber down the side of the crater, keeping her footing but skidding slightly on the rocks, managing to avoid them as she fell and landed at the bottom, climbing over to Meredith.  
"Damn it I told you to stay, what if you'd hurt yourself as well? Then what Miss. Archaeologist?" Vickers' breathing was heavy from her wound as Shaw crawled over to her.

"I never listened to you before what makes you think I'd start now?" Shaw offered a reassuring smile which Vickers merely frowned at in return. "I need you to try and stay calm…you're breathing too quickly, your oxygen supplies won't last to get us back to the life boat at this rate." Being told what to do was not normally something Vickers would just accept, but in this case she bit back a comment and tried to focus on breathing normally. The young doctor gently pushed Meredith's hand off her wound so she could inspect it; the blonde was wriggling uncomfortably the whole time, the wound clearly bothering her more than she'd ever admit.

"Would you stop fidgeting so I can have a look at it?" Once again, Vickers grudgingly did as she was told and tried to keep still, her sky-blue orbs watching the auburn-haired young woman who was so close to her their helmets were almost touching. Shaw kept her eyes on the wound, her normally soft features holding a serious frown as she ran her fingers gently around where Meredith's suit had been ripped from the rock, blood oozing from the cut.  
"We need to get you back right now."

Before Vickers could protest, Shaw had removed some bandages from the pouch on her thigh, wrapping them incredibly tightly around Vickers' hip to stop the blood flowing too quickly. The blonde felt her face heating up from pure humiliation that she'd put herself in such a situation, lifting her hip up as best she could so Shaw could wrap the material around her. When she was done, Elizabeth leaned back and cleared her throat, her face almost as red.  
"Come on."

Swallowing dryly, Vickers leaned back against the rock, her breathing heavy again as she tried to gain the strength to stand up.  
"I can't. I can't do it." She gasped after a few tries of trying to move as Shaw stepped back to give her room. Elizabeth leaned down, taking Meredith's arm and pulling it around her shoulders, feeling the blonde resisting her actions.  
"Would you rather me leave you down here to die?" Elizabeth stubbornly added, causing Vickers to mutter insults under her breath as she wrapped her arm around Shaw's neck, reaching over with her other hand to hold her arm in place, steadying her.

"I'd love to know how we're going to get up there." The blonde grunted but Shaw just ignored her, starting to move towards the side of the crater where multiple rocks were embedded into the terrain. The two glanced to each other through their helmets, making eye contact for a moment.

"We can do this…trust me." Shaw murmured softly under her breath, seeing the fear in Meredith's eyes. After all, despite her tough exterior, she was just as frightened of dying as any other. Under these circumstances, the chance of her dying was not unlikely, the rate of her breathing was causing her oxygen to deplete much faster, and the wound on her hip was deep; extensive blood loss was imminent unless they got moving right now. They had a very long walk back to the life boat to go through yet but Shaw was not going to give up on her.

"Okay." She whispered back, tightening her grip around Shaw's neck. The young doctor gave her a comforting smile before she turned to the rocks, the two of them beginning to climb. They struggled to keep their footing, but after a very long, painful struggle, the two reached the top of the crater. Shaw heaved Meredith up onto the floor, both of them falling back against the ground and panting heavily.

"Shit." Shaw whispered under her breath; the amount of oxygen they'd just used on that climb would have been too drastic to think about, her body was burning and sweat dripped down her face underneath the helmet. Glancing to Vickers, she noticed that the blonde had gone a shade paler, also covered in sweat. The bandage on her wound was bloody but still in place, which Shaw was thankful for. After allowing her breathing to return to a normal rate, she pulled herself onto her feet, leaning down and taking Vickers' hands, pulling her up too. The blonde looked awful to put it politely.

"I can't do this…I'm gonna die." Vickers murmured, her voice cracking slightly as the fear over took her usual calm, collected personality. Shaw shook her head quickly, wrapping the taller woman's arm around her neck again, tucking her free arm around her waist to steady her.  
"No you're not. Where's that level headed CEO disappeared to?" Shaw grinned to the blonde who rose her eyebrows at her, the two of them beginning to walk.  
"I thought you said rank was irrelevant now?"  
"I'll make an exception just this once."

A small smile reached the corners of Meredith's lips, but Shaw didn't have time to enjoy seeing the blonde's expression, she had to focus on getting her back safely. After what felt like hours of walking, Vickers began to wobble next to her, her legs giving up as she almost fell to her knees but gripped hold of Shaw tightly.

"No, no, no, don't give up now we're almost there…we must be. Just hold on a little longer." The panic was evident behind Shaw's voice as Vickers began to blink heavier, the pain in her side still burning away, her strength almost up. Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth moved and placed Vickers' arms all the way around her neck, bending her knees and moving her hands behind her, forcing the blonde onto her back. Despite the height difference, Shaw was incredibly strong for her build, and with all of her remaining strength she carried the blonde on her back.

Soon enough her own legs were giving way as she almost fell to her knees but kept going, the blonde's helmet resting against her own.  
"Talk to me… Meredith? Please try to stay awake." Shaw murmured softly, earning a barely audible mumble in return from the blonde. Shaw possessed a huge amount of inner strength and will power which took control over her body and mind, forcing her to keep walking. The oxygen warning started to go off, declaring only a minute's worth was left for Vickers. Frowning in concentration, Shaw walked faster as the life boat grew closer in the distance.

Feeling hope ignite inside her, Shaw found the final burst of strength that she needed as the two reached the doors to the life boat. Gently letting Vickers down from her back, she rested the woman against her body since she could barely stand up. Banging on the doors Shaw yelled at the top of her voice for David to unlock the doors. Sure enough, within a few seconds the sealed doors opened. Elizabeth turned to Meredith, pushing her up and into the life boat, following her before sealing the doors behind them.

"We made it. Oh god we made it." Shaw panted, unclasping her helmet and pulling it off quickly, moving to do the same for Vickers. The blonde let out a loud cough and inhaled heavily, thankful to have the helmet off at last. She was drifting in and out of consciousness, but now they were home Shaw could take proper care of her.

* * *

A few hours later Meredith opened her eyes slowly, her vision returning. When her eyes adjusted, she found herself lying comfortably on the bed in her quarters. Looking around the room, she caught sight of Shaw perched on the end of the bed. The two made eye contact for a moment and the young doctor smiled softly.

"Welcome back." She spoke gently and Meredith managed a weak smile in return. Taking a look at her body, she noticed she was only wearing the white undergarments, her hip all cleaned up and covered in fresh bandages. "I uh…I had to remove your suit to get to the wound." Shaw added quickly as she noticed the blonde inspecting her hip. "I'll let you rest."

"Wait." Vickers leaned and grabbed Shaw's wrist as the doctor had made to leave the room. Shaw froze, feeling the cold of the blonde's fingers around her warm skin. The sensation sent a shiver down her spine as she turned to look at Vickers. The gaze they held was strong, both women finally having formed a connection that was more than just rivalry. Meredith was well aware that Elizabeth had saved her life out there…and even though the two of them often argued…they were closer now than ever before.

"Thank you." Vickers murmured softly, causing a beautiful smile to reach Shaw's face as she leaned close, leaving a kiss against the blonde's cheek before turning to leave the room. Meredith leaned back against the bed, bringing her fingers up to touch her cheek where Elizabeth had left the gentle kiss. The sensation of the other woman's mouth against her skin had brought a comfortable warmth to the blonde…a warmth she never knew she could feel.


End file.
